(1)

The weather was gloomy, and the dull pain in his left leg persisted intermittently. Wei Qi looked at his pale, sinister reflection in the mirror, then, after a moment, flipped the bronze mirror over in disgust.

Without Suisui’s rebirth and assistance, he would have become this neither-human a nor-ghost figure.

Yü Lingxi had been carefully observing him, seemingly puzzled by his unusual behavior.

She skillfully took out a pre-warmed wine pot and poured a cup for Wei Qi to ward off the cold.

Wei Qi watched her attentive, gentle expression and suddenly understood why, back when she was the young mistress at the General’s Mansion, Suisui had seemed so natural and familiar when feeding him lychees or peeling lotus seeds for him.

Because she had done these things thousands of times, long, long ago.

Yet he had known nothing, and had even mocked her, saying “how skilled you are at serving others.”

A shadow fell across Wei Qi’s eyes as he reached out to take the cup from Yü Lingxi, rubbing it between his fingers as he said: “Sit down, have a drink with me.”

When the Regent Prince was in a good mood, he would sometimes invite her to share a cup with him.

Yü Lingxi wasn’t surprised. She sat down as instructed and poured herself half a cup of wine. Afraid of drinking too much and making a mistake, she dared not pour too much.

Wei Qi’s gaze swept over the bland wine, and he suddenly asked: “Do you have any pepper powder?”

He remembered that Yü Lingxi loved spicy food and would add pepper powder to her wine and tea, a strange but endearing habit.

Yü Lingxi thought he was asking if there was any spice in the wine. Recalling how the Regent Prince had once thrown her out after being burned by the spice, she quickly replied: “Don’t worry, my lord, there is no pepper powder in the wine.”

Plum fruits were quickly brought. Wei Qi personally picked up two pieces and placed them in Yü Lingxi’s cup. The clear wine soon turned into a light amber gold.

Yü Lingxi was stunned by this favor, yet hesitant. Given the Regent Prince’s unpredictable temperament, might he have mixed some strange poison into the plums?

Seeing her not moving, Wei Qi lifted the cup to her lips and said softly: “Open your mouth.”

The pain in his leg made his complexion poor, and his low, slow tone seemed somewhat eerie. Yü Lingxi dared not disobey. She slightly parted her red lips, allowing the warm, spicy wine to slowly pour between her teeth.

After waiting a while, there were no strange poisoning symptoms. Following the brief spiciness and slight sourness came the lingering sweetness of the plums, with warmth rising from her belly and spreading throughout her body.

Yü Lingxi truly couldn’t understand today’s Regent Prince, but it no longer mattered. The spicy sensation on her tongue transformed into joy in her heart; it had been a long time since she had experienced such an uninhibited pleasure.

This time without the Regent Prince’s help, she poured herself another cup of wine, holding it with both hands and draining it in one gulp, sighing with satisfaction.

In those cautious, contemplative almond eyes, a relaxed, rippling smile finally appeared.

What an easy person to please.

Wei Qi turned up the corners of his mouth and told her: “From now on, whatever Suisui wants to eat or drink, just take it freely, without worry.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

Though Yü Lingxi expressed gratitude verbally, in her heart, she was rolling her eyes.

The Regent Prince’s moods were unpredictable. He might shower her with affection one moment, then turn hostile the next. She was long accustomed to this and knew that seizing the moment was the only right approach.

Wei Qi observed her darting eyes, chuckling softly as he sipped his wine, knowing she must be inwardly complaining.

No matter, after all, she wasn’t cursing him.

The wine was strong. After drinking several cups, Yü Lingxi’s cheeks turned red, and gradually she couldn’t even hold her cup steady. Resting her chin on her hand, she began to doze off drowsily.

The way she nodded like a pecking chick while trying to stay awake was both amusing and pitiful.

In the future, after Suisui had changed their fate, she would whine and act coquettishly when drunk, calling “Ning Yin” again and again, to which he would respond patiently, never tiring of it.

But the Suisui before him was all alone, with all her relatives gone. Even indulging in drunken folly once was a luxury.

Yü Lingxi finally succumbed to drowsiness. Her hand slackened, and her head dropped straight toward the table.

Wei Qi reached out in time to support her.

Yü Lingxi’s head landed on his cool palm. She nuzzled against it, finding a comfortable position before falling asleep.

Wei Qi didn’t withdraw his hand. With the wine cup between his teeth, he used his free hand to remove his outer robe, shake it out, and drape it over Yü Lingxi’s thin shoulders.

In the quiet afternoon, the dark clouds were dim, yet it felt warm.

Wei Qi watched the sleeping Suisui for a moment, then closed his eyes as well.

As his consciousness sank into darkness, a powerful force pulled him down like a vortex, as if summoning a wandering soul.

Wei Qi was startled and abruptly opened his eyes.

His consciousness returned to his body, his vision focused—he was still in the Regent Prince’s manor where fate had not changed.

Yü Lingxi slept with her head on his palm, covered by the dark purple royal robe he had personally draped over her.

Wei Qi finally understood that he couldn’t stay too long in “the past before Suisui’s rebirth.” Once he fell asleep, it would be time to wake up in the real world.

Returning to the sunny Suisui would naturally make him happy, but what about the Suisui before him?

“I dreamed that I died because of this, leaving you all alone in the world.”

Suisui’s words still echoed in his ears, revealing her tragic end in her previous life with a seemingly lighthearted, smiling tone.

Dark emotions surged in Wei Qi’s eyes as he formulated a plan.

While he still had time, he carefully withdrew his hand and picked up the walking cane beside him as he stood.

With a light press, a thin blade extended, reflecting a frost-like coldness in his eyes.

(2)

Before his consciousness plunged into the endless dark abyss, Ning Yin’s heart suddenly contracted, and he jerked awake.

The curtains at Xiuyun Pavilion swayed gently, gradually bringing back his thoughts as his cold fingertips warmed.

“What’s wrong?”

Yü Lingxi, who had been by his side, quickly noticed his abnormal expression and asked with concern, “Did you have a nightmare?”

Upon seeing Yü Lingxi beside him, the coldness in Ning Yin’s eyes gradually dissipated, melting into a faint, peaceful smile.

“Yes, I had a nightmare.”

Ning Yin slowly relaxed his tightly clenched fist, examining his fingers back and forth. Fortunately, he was still dwelling in this perfect body.

So it seemed that usurping another’s place was not a permanent solution. As soon as he fell asleep, he would return to that cold world without Lingxi. This was troublesome.

“Your Majesty, the candy and lanterns you requested have been purchased.”

An attendant came upstairs to report, interrupting Ning Yin’s thoughts.

“Lanterns?” Ning Yin raised an eyebrow.

“Since we rarely leave the palace for leisure, I suddenly wanted to replace the lanterns in the prince’s manor.”

Yü Lingxi smiled as she accepted the candy, opening it and offering a piece to Ning Yin. “Would you like one?”

Lingxi’s last wish before she left was to stroll the streets with him and buy some snacks.

Unfortunately, this wish remained unfulfilled until her death. Later, Ning Yin went to the streets alone and bought a package of candy, but he could never taste the sweetness that came from her personally feeding him.

Ning Yin took the candy and examined it for a long time before reluctantly putting it in his mouth, closing his eyes in satisfaction.

Yü Lingxi gazed at the floating clouds on the horizon and suggested: “There are still a few hours before we can see the lanterns at night. Would you like to fly a kite together?”

Ning Yin had no interest in kites.

First, his childhood experiences hadn’t been pleasant; second, having suffered from his leg ailment for so many years, he detested all activities that required healthy running.

What did interest him was the vibrant and radiant Lingxi before him—so radiant that even if she asked for his heart and liver, he would cut them out without hesitation and give them to her.

But autumn had already arrived, and there were no kites for sale at the market.

So Yü Lingxi ordered paste, bamboo strips, and other materials, attempting to make one herself.

Unfortunately, she had no experience in crafts. After bustling about for a while, she nearly cut her finger.

“That’s wrong. It should be done like this.”

Ning Yin couldn’t bear to watch any longer and took the materials from her hands, starting to work on it himself.

Yü Lingxi smiled as she watched him from the side.

When the man lowered his eyes, his eyelids cast heavy shadows, making him look cold and distant, emanating the murderous aura of one who had long held power.

Ning Yin unhurriedly tied the thin strings and glanced up at her focused expression. He spoke casually: “Has Lingxi always been this happy?”

Yü Lingxi paused, then nodded: “With family intact and loved ones by my side, naturally I’m happy.”

“Loved ones…”

Ning Yin savored these words, as if entranced, and repeated with a half-smile, “Loved ones, huh.”

Just as the kite was finished, clouds obscured the sun—the weather was changing.

With such a strong autumn wind, the kite would certainly not fly. Yü Lingxi felt somewhat disappointed and sighed, resting her chin on her hand: “What a pity, I can’t fly kites with you now.”

Ning Yin didn’t mind; his thoughts were never really on the kite anyway.

The overcast day was extremely dim. By the time of the evening hour, lanterns were hung throughout the manor.

These were the lanterns Yü Lingxi had ordered prepared in the afternoon. In the courtyard, along the corridors, under the eaves, and among the treetops, new lanterns hung brightly, like thousands of fallen stars converging to form a gentle sea of light overhead.

Beneath the sea of light, Yü Lingxi and Ning Yin held cups and drank together, as if wrapped in a layer of golden gauze.

The beauty under the lanterns was incomparably radiant and captivating to the eye.

Ning Yin never had the chance to see the lanterns with Lingxi… No, perhaps there had been opportunities.

During the first Lantern Festival banquet, he had brought her only blood and slaughter; during the second Lantern Festival, he had been busy dealing with a few escaped enemies and hadn’t returned to the manor…

He had lived without feeling, in a stupor, always thinking there would be a time in the future,

Not knowing that three months later, in spring, he would lose Lingxi forever.

Thinking of something, Ning Yin’s gaze suddenly darkened.

The streets they had never walked together, the trampled kite, and the lantern festival they had never viewed together… It seemed that the Lingxi before him was making up for his previous life’s regrets one by one.

But how could the Lingxi of this world know the regrets from his previous life?

“Ning Yin, is there anything else you want?”

Yü Lingxi, slightly intoxicated, swayed as she held her cup and asked.

I want you.

Ning Yin answered in his heart, his eyes dark with obsessive devotion.

But on his lips hung a gentle smile as he half-closed his eyes, saying lazily: “Make this prince a pair of leather boots.”

Yü Lingxi blinked very slowly and smiled: “Alright.”

(3)

The night rain was cold, and Wei Qi still couldn’t adapt to his broken left leg.

He had directly raided the entire Xue household and massacred the entire Zhao family without encountering any resistance.

It seemed that whether in his previous life or this one, the ruthless cruelty in his bones hadn’t changed a bit.

After dealing with the Xue and Zhao families, there were hidden rebel remnants in the court.

Fortunately, his subordinates were not much different from the trusted aides in his previous world. After killing all those who needed to be killed, Wei Qi gathered several trusted aides led by Zhou Yunqing and Zhe Ji to make final arrangements.

He leaned back in his chair, his handsome face cold, slowly rotating a dragon-patterned jade pendant between his fingers: “In the future, if this prince dies, whoever holds this jade will be your new master. You must respect her and protect her. Does anyone object?”

Although puzzled, everyone bowed and replied in unison: “We will obey the prince’s orders.”

“Very good.”

After completing all this, Wei Qi ordered Xue Song and the Zhao father and daughter to be tied to horseback with rough ropes, dragging them in a string back to the prince’s manor.

With ice-cold eyes, he made the three culprits kneel and kowtow to Yü Lingxi.

Xue Song had lost one boot, and his bare foot was soaked in rainwater, oozing blood from broken skin. Panting and in a wretched state, he darkened his face and straightened his back, refusing to bend his knees.

“Break his legs.”

Wei Qi ordered the guards coldly, without a single wasted word.

He didn’t know how long he could stay in this world and needed to eliminate all dangers for Suisui before returning.

After several muffled screams, Wei Qi calmly raised his hand to cover Yü Lingxi’s eyes.

Yü Lingxi’s lips pressed lightly together. When the hand before her eyes was removed and light poured in, Xue Song’s legs were already twisted in strange positions as he supported himself on the ground, kneeling in the rain, never to stand again.

Zhao Hui and Zhao Yuming were already pale with fear. Without the guards having to beat them, they fell to their knees and prostrated themselves.

“This humble official doesn’t know what crime he has committed, but begs the prince to spare his life! Spare my life!”

Seeing the Regent Prince unmoved, Zhao Hui crawled on the ground like a defeated dog to Yü Lingxi’s feet and kowtowed: “Niece, please beg the prince! Considering that I once took you in…”

He would have been better off not mentioning this. The words reminded Yü Lingxi of the suffocating, prison-like life she had lived in the Zhao residence.

She stepped back, hiding behind the Regent Prince’s tall figure, and turned her head away.

Yü Lingxi couldn’t quite figure it out. If the Regent Prince was making her uncle and cousin kneel to her as vengeance on her behalf, then what about Xue Song?

It wasn’t until the autumn wind blew open the bedroom window and Yü Lingxi gazed at the rain spattering that she vaguely understood something.

It was raining today, no wonder.

The Regent Prince’s leg ailment always flared up in rainy weather, making him particularly savage and bloodthirsty.

Understanding this, she got up to close the window again, untied her dress sash, and walked toward the bed.

She lifted the covers and slipped in, letting out a light yawn, warming the bed before the prince returned. She had done this many times and felt no embarrassment…

Besides, mutual benefit was her way of survival.

When Wei Qi returned with a chill on his body, Yü Lingxi had already rolled to the inside, making room on the half of the bed she had just warmed.

The bedding carried the scent of women’s perfume and had a temperature that made one covetous. Yü Lingxi showed only her face, her almond eyes glistening, steadily watching him.

Wei Qi’s eyes twitched slightly as he tucked in the corners of her blanket.

His face was already white without a trace of blood, his lips tightly pressed together, yet he didn’t “warm himself” with Yü Lingxi as usual.

Yü Lingxi couldn’t decide whether to move closer or continue lying still.

Seeing the Regent Prince leaning on the edge of the bed enduring pain, she finally couldn’t bear it and tentatively said: “I’ve already bathed. My lord can come closer.”

Wei Qi opened his eyes, with a self-tormenting, leisurely smile, and said hoarsely: “No need for this, Suisui.”

This bone-deep pain was exactly what he deserved in his ruined life.

He might as well experience fully what kind of life—worse than human or ghost—he would have lived had Suisui never entered his life.

Yü Lingxi observed him. Seeing that he truly had no murderous intent, she buried her nose in the pillow and said softly: “My lord is very different today.”

She had noticed the abnormality, and Wei Qi didn’t intend to conceal it from her.

After a moment’s hesitation, he parted his pale thin lips and said slowly: “Because I come from another time and space, one where fate was changed because Suisui lived again.”

Yü Lingxi widened her eyes, staring at him in astonishment.

(4)

When Yü Lingxi woke up, her head was pillowed on a pair of sturdy thighs, and she was still holding the half-cut boot pattern she had been working on the night before.

Ning Yin rested his head in his hand, leaning on the edge of the bed, looking down at her, casually stroking her loosened hair at her temples.

Yü Lingxi was startled by the fatigue under his eyes. In her previous life, Ning Yin had been tormented by his leg ailment, often going entire nights without sleep, wearing just this pale face and dark eyelids, looking quite gloomy and cold.

“You sat up all night without sleeping?”

Yü Lingxi raised her hand, tracing the outline of his dark eyes from a distance, her expression complex.

“I feared that if I fell asleep and woke up, I wouldn’t see Lingxi anymore.”

Ning Yin smiled maniacally, but his eyes held a tender, obsessive smile.

He took Yü Lingxi’s hand, caressing each finger one by one, then asked softly: “When did Lingxi recognize me?”

Yü Lingxi stiffened.

“Shhh.”

Ning Yin pressed his finger to her lips, bending down to glance at the leather boot pattern in her hand. “Don’t lie to this prince. This prince has figured it out. Yesterday, Lingxi was constantly making up for this prince’s past regrets. Even the style of these leather boots is identical to the ones you once gave me.”

He laughed: “What I don’t understand is where I revealed myself?”

Yü Lingxi pulled his finger away from her lips and looked at him for a long time before sighing: “You call me Lingxi, and the day I met you in this life was not the eighth day of the eighth month.”

When she had first seen Ning Yin yesterday morning, she had felt something was off.

His subtle movements and the way he referred to himself were more like his previous life’s manner.

“This life?”

Ning Yin, being highly intelligent, quickly grasped the key point and realized: “So Lingxi, like this prince, has also been reborn into this world after death?”

No, he hadn’t been reborn.

As soon as he closed his eyes to sleep, his soul would be pulled back to its original place; he was merely a cuckoo in another’s nest.

Ning Yin’s eyes darkened as he said tenderly: “Then, Lingxi, who is the person who stole your true heart in my place, who saw you in your fiery wedding dress?”

“It was Ning Yin.”

Yü Lingxi frowned slightly and explained: “There is no difference. You are all the same soul.”

“No,” Ning Yin said softly.

As soon as he closed his eyes, he would return to his broken body and broken life.

And what about the other “him”?

“He” had Lingxi by his side and didn’t have to suffer any pain… How could people with such different fates in different timelines be considered the same person?

Thinking of something, Ning Yin began to smile.

“Why don’t we kill him?” he suggested airily.

(5)

In the Regent Prince’s manor, while the rain pattered outside the bedchamber, all was quiet within.

“…Future Suisui saved Ning Yin, so future Ning Yin has come to help Suisui.”

Wei Qi’s voice was deep as he concluded his narrative.

Yü Lingxi was already dumbfounded.

“You don’t believe me?” Wei Qi asked.

Yü Lingxi nodded, then quickly shook her head.

“May I ask the prince… no, the future prince, one question?”

She said.

Wei Qi’s face was cold, but his lips curved upward: “Ask.”

Yü Lingxi chose her words carefully for a while, then with humble hope, she cautiously asked: “In the world where I lived again, are my father, mother, brothers, and sisters still alive?”

Wei Qi was taken aback.

He hadn’t expected that Suisui wouldn’t ask about future prosperity, or whether she would become the mother of the nation, but instead asked about such an inconspicuous detail.

He nodded: “Yes.”

Yü Lingxi’s eyes brightened.

“All of them,” Wei Qi decided to say more.

He wasn’t usually one to care about others’ family affairs but confronted with Suisui’s brightening eyes, the plain words came out unconsciously: “Yü Huanchen married the daughter of the Su family and just had a daughter; Yü Xinyi and Ning Zizhuo are in love and will soon be engaged. Your father was granted the title of First-Rank Duke of Dinguo for his military achievements, and your mother is also well…”

As he said this, he noticed the tears sliding into Yü Lingxi’s hair at her temples—a glistening, wet trail that pained his eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

Wei Qi forgot the pain in his leg and reached out to touch the wetness at the corner of her eye.

“My elder brother’s fiancée was indeed surnamed Su. They hadn’t yet had time to marry when my brother…”

Yü Lingxi vigorously wiped her eyes, then broke into a tearful smile: “I’m just happy… really, this is wonderful!”

Her lips trembled as if the last heartstring had finally snapped, and she buried her face in the bedding, sobbing: “They’re still alive. That’s wonderful!”

Wei Qi lowered his eyes and patted her back as if comforting a child.

The heartless madman finally understood the value of “blood kinship” through Suisui’s tears.

After a brief moment of joyful weeping, Yü Lingxi regained her composure.

She vigorously wiped her damp face on the pillow before saying with a nasal tone: “I’ve made the prince laugh at me.”

Wei Qi’s mouth twitched upward as he said: “Once I close my eyes and fall asleep, I will leave this place. If there’s anything else Suisui wants, just say it.”

Before leaving, he would surely fulfill her wishes.

Yü Lingxi thought for a long time, then shook her head: “Nothing else.”

Knowing the secret of future fulfillment, even her tone had lightened considerably. Her whole being was like a flower filled with water, vibrant and full.

Seeing Wei Qi raise an eyebrow, she smiled gently: “Really, nothing.”

Knowing that her family was living well in the future world, with all her loved ones intact, she had no more regrets.

“Once I’m gone, you’ll face that clueless madman again.”

Wei Qi didn’t hesitate to use the most vicious words to describe himself as he said in a deep voice, “Aren’t you afraid?”

Before Yü Lingxi could answer, Wei Qi chuckled.

Although the former Ning Yin would disappear, the current Ning Yin might also cease to exist. But if his existence required Suisui’s death as the catalyst, he would rather disappear.

Perhaps Suisui would live better without the madman… who knows?

Wei Qi’s black eyes shone brightly as he leaned forward and said softly: “Let me kill him for you, how about that?”